Testing the Hypothesis

1. The opportunity I would like to pursue is the housing crisis in California. There are so many people who are affected by this and it has yet to get better of the past years. 2. The houses in California are too expensive for lower and middle-class incomes to afford, kicking out a huge population of people to make room for the elite rich. Who: Lower and middle-class income in California What: are becoming homeless because they can't afford housing why: The elite rich continue to come in and the population keeps growing, and there isn't enough space for housing for everyone. 3. Testing the who: There are people around the US that are homeless, but California has it bad right now. Everyone in California whether they are homeless or not feel the effects of so many people who don't have homes. Testing what: The government planning will be a challenge, asking people to donate will be a challenge, finding the space to add homes will be a challenge. Testing the why: A misconception about California is it's all luxury and famous, however, many underclass citizens live there are facing problems. Interviews: 1. I called my family friend in California who attends UCSB. I asked her about the current housing crisis and she talked about how her neighbors recently filed for bankruptcy because they couldn't afford rent, and had nowhere else to go. She said even at college some students live in their cars or on the streets just to pay for tuition. She thinks that not only do college administrators need to step up, but also local and state governments because plans will come in but become rejected because they feel they won't work. She believes at this point, anything will be better than doing nothing. 2. A teacher from California that my family had connections to said she can barely afford to live in her one-bedroom apartment and has another job just to keep up with rent. She works all day as a teacher and at night she is a waiter. She said she thinks the government is trying but not hard enough, and that the more rich people who come into California, the worse it is for the working class. If teachers and city workers can't afford to live in California anymore, she says there is no longer a functioning society, because the backbone is being torn down by the prices of everything. 3. A college student at Uf said that he feels like housing in Florida isn't as much of a problem as it is in California and that something needs to be done before the state comes crashing down. When all the working people lose their homes because they can't afford it, all the rich will have no restaurants, schools, public transportation, etc. He says he thinks it will come close to this before the government takes extreme action. He thinks they should start building more houses with low-income property, specifically for the middle and lower class because no one can afford anything outside of it. 4. An economics professor said California is on the verge of becoming the top homeless population. They are not thinking of the right solutions and they are continuously ignoring the problem which just keeps getting worse. Economically, California won't have anyone to do the jobs that keeps the state running, which in turn will cause a market crash. Families can't live there unless their parents are doctors or lawyers, and even at that, buying a four-bedroom house in California is almost twice if not more than the price of the same house in Florida. 5. A former California resident said she thinks the problem is starting to be addressed, but no one has taken action to address it fully. She said ideas kept coming in but nothing was happening. She said the school she went to had obvious economic divisions, and it was the way people classified themselves. Money was so much more of a factor in everyone's lives there, as in Florida she explained she rarely compares how much money she has to others or hears of it. She said the Bay Area, although beautiful, has one of the worst spots, including the major cities. She said even with in-state tuition, with the cost of housing and food she couldn't imagine going to a college in California. Summary: Getting my interviews, I learned that most people do know about the housing crisis in California, whether they have connections or not. Most people have solutions but aren't sure how to help implement solutions and how to help when they have their own troubles. The interviews definitely validated that there is a problem, just no clear idea on a solution.